This invention relates to the storage of enclosed, entombment caskets in burial vaults and especially above-ground burial vaults more commonly referred to as mausoleum crypts and to a novel and unique, compact, lightweight, hermetically sealed casket enclosure for use in such storage systems. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved method of storing an enclosed, entombment casket in a mausoleum crypt which does not require the casket enclosure to be completely sealed prior to placing the enclosure inside the crypt.
Storage of enclosed, entombment caskets in mausoleum crypts has become more popular in recent years due to the ever-increasing shortages of available space for below ground burials in most cemeteries. However, these interments have been plagued by certain serious problems which unfortunately have limited their more wide spread use. One such problem, for example, has been the necessity to provide proper ventilation throughout the mausoleum crypt in order to mask or suppress odors created by the decomposition gases. Another more serious problem has been the rapid deterioration of the crypt chambers when the casket decays and begins to leak corrosive compounds including embalming solutions containing formaldehyde, for example, and other corrosive chemicals produced by decomposition of the remains. Unless strict measures are followed to ensure complete and long term sealing of the caskets within suitable containers or enclosures when placed inside the crypt, such corrosive compounds can quickly act to degrade the materials used to make the crypt chambers, e.g. concrete, eventually leading to destruction of the entire crypt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,590 issued to David Yearsley on May 8, 1990 discloses a compact, lightweight casket enclosure system for use in a burial or mausoleum crypt. The casket enclosure comprises essentially two pieces, namely, a rigid, foldable, bottom tray for receiving the casket and a durable cover made from a rugged, chemically resistant, gas and liquid impermeable wrapping material. The cover is placed over the top of the casket much like a dome and is sealed longitudinally around the bottom or side wall of the casket by a gas and liquid impermeable adhesive tape. The problem with this type of casket enclosure is that it must be assembled and completely sealed around the casket before the casket and the enclosure are placed inside the crypt chamber. The reason for this requirement is that the crypt chamber is usually only slightly larger in size than the casket enclosure and there is little, if any, room left inside the crypt to accommodate any kind of sealing equipment. Thus, the enclosure must be sealed outside the crypt chamber and then lifted with the casket in place and inserted into the crypt chamber. This maneuver, if not carefully done, can result in damage to the casket and/or the enclosure should the casket, for example, slide around inside the enclosure while being lifted.
It has been proposed more recently to fabricate a casket enclosure from a single sheet of a thermoplastic resinous sheet material which is shaped into an elongated configuration having open ends that are closed by flat end covers or the like. The casket enclosure is hermetically sealed by applying a torch or other heating device around the periphery of the cover to melt the resin and heat seal the junction between the cover and the enclosure walls. Although this type of casket enclosure is simple, easy to assemble and durable in construction, it is still necessary to hermetically seal the enclosure outside of the crypt chamber since there would be no room left to accommodate a heating device after the enclosure has been loaded into the crypt.
Other prior art patents which exemplify the state of the art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,253,220, 4,288,952 and 4,845,906. These patents disclose burial vaults which include a base and dome type covers made from tough and durable plastic resinous materials. The covers are hermetically sealed to the base longitudinally around the side walls of the casket using a gasket type sealing material.